I had someone contact me as to what could be done nutritionally for RA.. rheumatoid arthritis. I communicated with them via email but decided to do this article on the subject as there are most probably other people who have some of the same questions so here’s some highlights of nutrition’s affect on RA.

The jury is still out on whether the nutrition deficiencies are the cause or the result of having this disease. But none the less it has been found that restoring nutrient deficiencies can reverse and even heal RA.

A quick note about autoimmune diseases in general; it is when the immune system attacks it’s self. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system of a person actually attacks their own joints and tissues.

Some common health problems that are common in people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are:

Digestive difficulties

Morning stiffness

Loss of grip strength

Anemia (low iron)

Sensitivity to one or more foods

Fluid retention in the hands

Stiffness of the fingers

Tingling of the hands

Joint inflammation and pain

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

Fatigue

Skin disorders such as psoriasis

Someone with rheumatoid arthritis may or may not have these symptoms however if you do suffer from any of them, let it be a warning that you could be at risk of developing RA.

Some probable nutrient deficiencies are described in the paragraphs that follow.

Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA)

Just about every study of fish oil has found supplementation to be helpful for those suffering with rheumatoid arthritis. Fish oil has been known to reduce morning stiffness, increase grip strength, and reduce pain.

B Complex

B vitamin deficiencies can be caused by a deficiency of hydrochloric (stomach) acid or damage to the digestive tract from food allergies. These deficiencies can cause anemia, pain, disability, fluid retention in the hands, stiffness of the fingers, and tingling of the hands. Methotrexate, a common rheumatoid arthritis drug can contribute to the B vitamin deficiencies but is no less effective when B Complex supplements are used. Actually supplementing with some of the B vitamins may lessen the side effects of RA drugs such as methotrexate.

Vitamin C

Most people with rheumatoid arthritis have low levels of vitamin C. Vitamin C with flavonoids supplementation has been helpful to reduce the symptoms of RA and is known for helping reduce inflammation and pain.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is beneficial in reducing the risk of autoimmune disease in general. A vitamin D rich environment for immune cells is important for the health of the cells. That means get moderate sunshine exposure and when supplementing, use D3.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E has anti-inflammatory benefits so can reduce pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. In order for vitamin E to work as an anti-inflammatory it must be in mixed form with the entire E family. The mineral, selenium also helps the E to work.

Minerals

Supplementation with selenium, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, & iron can be helpful in balancing nutrient deficiencies. Minerals are best absorbed when in a chelated form.

Generally, supplementation with the above nutrients is helpful in reducing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. When supplementing it is important to not take isolates but complete families of nutrients as they are balanced in nature. Supplemental nutrients will most likely be more effective when taken in low balanced doses rather than in high amounts. This allows the nutrients to have a synergistic effect on the RA.

Food allergies are often found in those who suffer with rheumatoid arthritis.

Certain foods can trigger symptoms of RA. Some of the more common foods can be grains, nuts, eggs, milk, beef, pork, sugar, and alcohol. Avoidance of these foods may possibility lead to partial or complete resolution. At that point the foods could slowly be reintroduced one at a time to determine any allergic responses. As I mentioned earlier in this article, low hydrochloric acid can trigger food allergies so supplementation with a food grade hydrochloric acid will most likely be helpful. A raw or vegan diet may be good to relieve the symptoms of RA. Keep in mind that any food or drink that is high in sugar will trigger more inflammation and pain.

Bacterial overgrowth or abnormal bacteria in the digestive tract should be considered as present in those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Bacterial overgrowth is one of the main things involved in training the immune system to attack its own tissues and/or joints. This means it is critical to keep digestive bacteria in balance from the stomach all the way to the colon. Once again I am suggesting supplementation with hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes, and probiotics especially for those suffering with RA.

Anyone with rheumatoid arthritis should be aware that they are more susceptible to lung infections, heart disease, nerve damage, and bone loss. Since RA is an autoimmune disease, it could cause problems in any part of the body. For long term good health it is important to make the lifestyle changes necessary to get RA under control. Low impact exercise is important to keep the body stronger, keep joints and muscles flexible, and keep the blood flowing to all parts of the body.

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is usually caused by excessive sugar intake and exhaustion of the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are the command posts of the body when the body is faced with bacterial invasion or exposure to potentially toxic substances. Studies have shown that many allergies, food intolerances, and symptoms associated with RA melt away when adrenal gland function is supported.

Personally, prior to supplementing with the 3 essential oils from wheat, rice, and soy, I used to experience low blood sugar symptoms but very seldom do now. On the very rare occasion I feel a bit of low blood sugar symptoms coming on, I also have a snack of balanced 2 to 1 quality protein and carbohydrate. I have no doubt that I would now, almost 30 years later, suffer seriously from at least autoimmune disease if I had not been supplementing with Tre-en-en, these essential oils.

At this point you may be thinking that I am just pushing the supplements I sell. Hopefully that is not the case however to get long term relief from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis it does require supplementation with quality products. I believe Neo-Life (GNLD) nutritionals are the absolute best in the marketplace. You will do yourself a huge favor by committing to giving Neo-Life (GNLD) supplements a try for at least 6 months, especially if you are suffering from RA or any other autoimmune disease.

It is possible certain individuals may need to add additional supplements to reach optimal results. That will be when we should have a one on one consultation as to what else might be needed down the road.

Please share this article with anyone you know who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

****************

Neo-Life Nutritionals I suggest as a basic program are as follows:

Pro Vitality with Formula IV Plus – item #3143. Start with 1 packet daily with a meal for the 1st week, go to 2 packets daily for the 2nd week, and then 3 packets daily thereafter. Each packet will give you the essential oils from wheat, rice, and soy plus extra vitamins and minerals as well as Salmon Oil Plus (omega-3’s) and Carotenoid Complex (antioxidant protection from fruits and vegetables).

Acidophilus Plus – item #3524. Take 1 capsule each morning upon rising. This is a targeted probiotics providing 5 billion live microorganisms per capsule which helps maintain a healthy balance of bacteria in the intestines.

Pat Unlocks the Key to Your Future Health with Wisdom, Knowledge and Common Sense

Pat has been married to the same man for 52 years, is the mother of 3 adult children, and grandma to 8 grandchildren. Growing up in the country gave her a head start to living a healthy lifestyle. This grandma became interested in nutrition as a mother and for the past 27 plus years she has specialized in teaching others the importance of good nutrition. Challenges along the road have been many; her father overcoming congestive heart failure with nutrition, her husband’s battle with GERD and dealing with major heart issues, her daughter’s battle with a brain tumor, her grandson beating Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, her mother’s stage 4 lung cancer, her mom-n-law’s dementia, and others. Her goal is to empower the future health of others with wisdom, knowledge and common sense so they can have the BEST REAL HEALTH possible.

I really didn't know much about RA until I read your post. Fortunately, I take most of the supplements you mention. Hope this helps me avoid getting this difficult disease. Thanks for the information Pat!

Love this post! RA is such a big problem for so many, and unlike OA is systemic. This sheds some light and hope for those who are looking for an answer. I love it when people are given the resources to help their health 🙂 Thank you Pat.

Yes, RA can be a huge problem. I have talked to so many people who are not willing to make the diet changes neccesary to get relief and healing. Just this morning I had a conversation with someone who has severe RA. She is committed to following a plan to get relief beyond drugs. The person I talked to who inspired this blog several months ago is addicted to sugar and is not willing to give it up to feel better. It is so, so sad. I hurt for them. A person with RA has to have the desire to make those diet changes and supplement with very quality supplements such as NeoLife in order to get relief from their pain.

Roslyn, thank you for such a nice comment. I appreciate support readers like you.

You are right, most doctors do not cover nutritional advice or supplement use unless it has to do with weight loss and maybe diabetes and heart disease. It is not their fault, they are trained in medical procedures and medicine, not nutrition. What we have experienced with my husband’s heart problems is the nutrition advise they do give is really not accurate or complete. For example one cardiologist insisted that becoming a vegetarian was the only way to avoid taking cholestrial lowering drugs… that is just simply not true. Eliminating a total food group can be dangerous to our health in other ways. We must stay informed or know someone we can trust to answer our questions about nutrition. I have learned so much in the past 29 years I’ve worked with diet and supplements. It is nice to be able to work with scientists and nutrition doctors and have them available to me as a reliable resource.

My sister is 46 yrs old and is suffering so bad with RA all over her entire body. She has so much pain most days that she quit her job last week. She takes medicine and shots that have been prescribed by her arthritis doctor. She was told most likely that by the time she is 50 she will be in a wheelchair. She has talked to the doctors and they have said there is nothing more that they can do for her. Some of the problem is that my sister suffers from depression as well. So she is limited to what meds she can take for her arthritis. My questions is do you think all the different supplements would work? If you have any other suggestions that I could pass on to her that would be great! Thanks so much, Barb Keen

I am so sorry to hear that your sister is suffering so with RA. To answer your question about the supplements, yes, I do believe the NeoLife supplements I suggested will help her. I cannot speak for other brands of supplements. In 1958 when NeoLife first started, the very first NeoLife Distributor’s wife was pretty much bedridden with RA. She was only in her late 30’s at the time. We only had one product at that time which we still have and is contained in the ProVitality+. She gradually improved. It took several months but she eventually was totally free of RA. I believe she just passed away, in her 90’s, in the past few years. She was able to play tennis, golf and travel world wide. I did have the opportunity to meet her personally at company events.

Does your sister eat healthy? Sugar is one of the worst foods for RA. I will be happy to communicate with your sister either by email or phone… Let me know. If she would be willing to work with me, I have no doubt that her situation can be improved. Of course, I can’t guarantee but neither can the doctors. You can personal message me on FB for more info.

I sure do hope your sister will be open to giving these supplements and me an opportunity to help her.

You are so right, Veronica. There is great power in nutrition both good and bad. The fact that many illnesses are associated with the aging process is a great handicap or should I say excuse for people to not consider their diet as a contributor. Healthy food choices and quality supplements can do wonders.

Proper nutrition changes everything in our lives. Many people do not realize this until they are faced with health conditions and decide they want to become healthier. What we put into our bodies truly does affect us and the quality of life we live. Supplements are a great way to get in nutrition where we are lacking. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in health and supplements.

God bless you Pat and your husband, Larry. I've been through the same procedure with a dear friend, several years ago. It was a cardiac catheterization he underwent, while I channeled healing for him, from the waiting room. Thank you for the information on RA dietary modifications.

Babara, thanks for mentioning Larry. He is actually doing much better right now.. fewer chest pains. We finally was able to get clarification on the test results.. no blockages & medication to increase the blood flow to his heart seems to be helping. Meanwhile we continue to eat healthy, take all our heart healthy supplements, and regular exercise.

Glad to hear that Larry's catheterization went well. I'm sorry you are having such trouble getting straight answers from the doctors. Thanks for all the great info. I really appreciate all the information you share on nutrition and supplements.

Helena, thanks for remembering Larry’s heart catheterization. We finally did get a clarification of the results. No blockages on the 2 major by-passes he had 6 1/2 years ago. Two of the other minor by-passes are occluded (have malfunctioned). One of them has rerouted itself and the other one is not that important. His doctor did double the medication to increase the blood flow and Larry is now feeling better. No mention now of statin drugs because no blockages so that is very good news.

I’m glad you are appreciating the information I’ve been sharing.. it’s great to have you as a reader & follower.

It's pretty amazing when we realize how much information and knowledge exist today, compared with just a few decades ago. It can be quite overwhelming. The next issue, of course, is interpretation of much of that information! Thank you for sharing your knowledge about RA, Pat.

Sharon, great to read your encouraging comments. Yes, it is absolutely amazing to have so much information and knowledge at our finger tips. It can certainly be overwhelming when challenged with what path to pursue when needing to turn an ailment around. As far as choosing supplements, I have chosen to follow a company that has been at the forefront of research and development since 1958 as well as they have set the highest standards available in the industry. In my 28 years of working with them, a product has never been recalled or pulled off the market because it was not up to what they claim. It has been said, “If you don’t know your diamonds, know your jeweler.”

How fortunate we are, Pat, to have the extent of information and knowledge we have today about what ails us! Now our challenge is to know which path to pursue in terms of turning things around once an ailment presents itself. But better that than not knowing at all! Thanks for sharing this important information on RA!

Hi Lorii,
Thank you for reading my article about RA. What do you mean by home made remedies? Are you referring to a home made lotion or cream to apply topically or some combination of food ingredients to take internally? Cleaning up a person with RA’s diet is an great place to start. Stay away from processed foods, sugar (a biggie), perhaps eliminating the foods I listed in the article that may cause allergic responses, and eating a large portion of the diet from vegetables and some fruit. Most generally once RA has set in with symptoms, extra nutritional supplementation from whole food supplements is very helpful. Low impact exercise is also important to keep strength and flexibility.. a great program is “T-Tapp” (see the link in the right column above.) Please feel free to ask for more specific information.

Great detailed information on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Pat. Right along with the diet and supplements you recommend RA can be helped by eliminating oxidative stress. This will help the body reverse the DNA and allow the proper nutrition to aid the body in healing itself. So many suffer from this debilitating disease we really need to get the word out.

Thanks for your comment and support, Carla. Yes, oxidative stress is at the core of so many illnesses and I am so happy to be able to share this information of how through quality supplementation many illness symptoms can be reversed and even go away long term.

Hi Cindy, happy to have you visit my blog and am so happy you learned a lot about why most people need quality supplementation. My goal and passion is to share useful information about health, fitness, and nutrition.

I will definitely be passing this along to a friend of mine who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Thanks for another highly informative article, Pat. I hope it's good news when you next visit Larry's primary C-FNP.

Lisa, thank you for passing my article to your friend. Let them know I am available to answer any questions they may have. We saw our C-FNP today.. its interesting the report is even confusing to her as it gives contradicting info. She is going to seek clarification and call us when she gets clearer info.. thanks for asking.

Great article. Love how you decided to answer someone's questions with an article – this way it helps so many more people – because if one person was wondering, chances are, A LOT MORE are wondering too 🙂

Thanks for all of this excellent information and advice on RA – it's true that paying attention to nutrition is so important for vitality. P.S. I'm glad that Larry's procedure went well and I hope the confusion is cleared up real soon!

Moira, my goal is to help people make positive changes in their nutrition so they can have more vitality and avoid the suffering that goes along with diseases such as RA. Most of these type diseases can be reversed if people are willing to make those wise choices. Thanks for thinking of Larry and the confusion surrounding the test results.

It is interesting to see how the many different ailments are interrelated and how many issues can be treated with diet changes. I wonder how many people suffer RA from the result of low nutrient dense diets.

Tom, thanks for reading & commenting. Yes, so many ailments are interrelated with most of them very much a result of poor nutrition choices. I would venture to say that a good number of people who suffer with RA have a history of low nutrient dense diets. It is very sad.

Hi Meire,
You would be amazed at how many illnesses & diseases are related to nutrition deficiencies. The unfortunate part is that most people do not make that consideration until it creates a drastic change of lifestyle to make any type of correction. I appreciate you are a reader of my blog.

Pat, thinking of you and Larry….I really appreciate the info you shared about RA. A lot of the symptoms are very similar to celiac disease (I guess because they are both auto-immune diseases). The similarities are a bit scary, will have to keep an eye on that and take my vitamins!

Hi Sherie,
Yes, so many autoimmune diseases do have similar symptoms. I agree you do need to stay alert and listen to your body as far as nutritional needs. As a side note, you would most likely benefit from the digestive aids, Betagest and Enzymes to get a handle on the allergies involved in the celiac disease.
Thank you for your kind thoughts for Larry and I.. they are appreciated.

Thanks for sharing all that helpful information, Pat. I believe that by eating properly, exercising and taking supplements can only help us to a better life! I have certain things that I take that have helped me. It's to find what works for each individual. 🙂

Alexandra,
It is so good to hear from someone like-minded as far as the need for supplementation. We all have individual nutritional needs yet there are many things that overlap.
Thanks so much for your input.

Some of the links on this site may not be working currently, we are working to correct the problem. Please contact Pat on the contact page if you need more information about NeoLife or any product mentioned.